"Because it is. Believing in the sanctity of marriage meant the moment you took my last name, I knew exactly what I was giving up, including my right to fuck whoever I wanted. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate my ability to fantasize."

Cat didn't blink a lash at his crass attitude. "And you were what, ready to give up having any kind of intimacy with anyone for this?"

"Yes. Is that such a surprise to you? Does the man I am scream unfaithful and foul to you?"

"I never said that." Cat shifted on her feet, uncomfortable under his scrutiny. "Say in a decade or whenever, if you had found someone you loved, what of us then? Would you have remained faithful?"

"How can I find someone I love when I have no interest in being in love, bella?"

"That isn't what I asked."

"To find love, you have to engage with a person on a level beyond sex. The only woman I have any kind of relationship with that I'm engaged in daily is you. We both know there's no love here.

"Also, if you want to discuss questions not being answered, you still haven't given a response to mine. What would you say if I asked you these same questions, Catrina? How would you feel to be bombarded and interrogated like this?"

"Fine. I would feel fine. My answer is no."

Dante tensed. "No?"

"I realize my work puts my appearance on display in front of men. I've long since passed the point in my profession where I need to actually use my body to keep their attention, Dante. Men are little more than chess pieces I need to move across the board and that's all. There has been no man to catch and keep my attention enough for me to break my focus from my game... or, there hadn't been until you. What I told you on our wedding night still stands."

"That I was the only one in a long while. Yeah, I remember."

"Well, you already know. What else is there to wonder?"

An almost bitter quality coated his words when he asked, "Chess pieces, huh?"

"Every queen needs her king, Dante. Even on the chess board."

"But he's only there to protect her and if he dies, the game's still on."

"Maybe, but she doesn't last long without him." Cat waved at him. "Besides, I've never hidden my intentions from you."

Not entirely, she corrected silently.

"No, I guess you haven't." Dante's arms uncrossed, his posture relaxing.

Cat smiled. "Before you go wading back into that crazy headspace of yours, I want you to know something."

"What's that?"

"I want you to do it again."

"Do what, Catrina?"

"Kiss me. I want you to do it again, and I don't want you to stop."

Dante looked like he was chewing on the inside of his cheek, considering her words. "That's what you want, huh?"

"That's what I want, Dante."

"Right now, kitten?"

"No, see, supper still needs to be eaten."

She left him grumbling behind her.

A good wait wouldn't kill him.

"Catrina?"

Cat's head snapped up, but her husband was already swallowing another bite of her parmesan casserole. She waited until he was done before asking, "Yes?"

"I lied."

"When?"

"Earlier."

Cat decided to hear him out before reacting. "About what?"

"When you asked me if I had wanted to be with someone, I lied."

"But you basically said you had thought about it," she pointed out, confused. "I wouldn't call that a lie."

"It was a lie, kind of."

As he spoke, Dante kept his head down. It put her off her game when she couldn't gauge the reaction of the man she was speaking with, even if that man was her husband.

"What I said was that I had considered it, but I gave you the impression my thoughts were pointed in the direction of someone else."

Cat swallowed hard, straightening in her chair. "What are you trying to tell me, Dante?"

Dante finally looked up at her, his green eyes blazing. "I thought about fucking someone. Often. Every damn day, Cat. Once she was in my head, she wouldn't get the hell out, and I couldn't possibly make up a fantasy about someone else when I already had her. I know how she tastes, the way she feels wrapped around my cock, and even how my name sounds in her mouth. Yes, I've thought about her a lot. So, I would say I lied."

"But you said you had-" Cat's words cut off when Dante arched his eyebrow. "Oh."

"You," he murmured. "I thought about fucking you."

Jesus.

Cat's air cut past her lips in a hiss. All of her body reacted to those words he spoke so innocently, even with their wicked nature. "Oh."

Dante stood from the table and Cat jumped in her seat across from him, unsure of what he was doing. "I'm done eating, so I'm going to take a shower, kitten."

A shower?

What?

She had plainly offered her body and bed to him, he spoke as though he surely fucking wanted her, and now he was going to shower. Sweet Christ, he kept using that damn pet name like he had on their wedding night. Why did he keep doing that? It did nothing to calm her unsettled heart or soothe the raging flood of desire.

Fantastic.

Cat refused to pick Dante apart. She put men on edge, not the other way around. "I'll clean up."

"Thank you."

Once Dante was gone from view, Cat huffed and smacked her palms to the table, frustrated. She went about cleaning the leftover mess from dinner and getting the dishes ready to be washed. The kitchen sported a top of the line dishwasher, but she preferred to take care of the dishes herself if it was only her and Dante eating. Cleaning was almost as therapeutic for Cat as cooking was.

Since the last decade of her life had mostly consisted of living out of hotels, there wasn't time for her to be really ... normal. Cat knew when she married Dante that her first year as his wife would slow a lot of things down for her.

For once, she felt like there were some roots being put into the ground and maybe she was becoming stable. Cat didn't want to toss that away, but she still had business to attend, too. Luckily, her men came into play for some clients. They didn't mind Cat's men flying out to supply the dealers and handling the demands.

Rinsing the dishes off in soapy water, Cat disappeared into her thoughts. She didn't realize how much time had passed until she only had a few left to wash. Glancing at the digital microwave clock, she wondered if Dante had gone to sleep after his shower considering she hadn't heard a peep from him since he left the table.

Cat went back to the dishes in silence. As she scrubbed the last one, the creak of a floorboard was the only warning Cat received before she was lifted from the floor by two hands grabbing her waist. The dish clattered into the soapy water, sending water and bubbles flying everywhere.

She shrieked, surprised when she found herself turned and seated on the island counter. Dante stood between her spread thighs, smirking like a fucking idiot.

"What's this?" Dante asked, lifting his clenched hand for her to see. A black tie was wrapped around his palm.

"Your tie," Cat said, cocking a brow. Wasn't it obvious? "And what was that all about, throwing me around like a barbarian?"

"Just getting you back for your show earlier, kitten."

"What show?"

"Don't act dumb. You're not a stupid woman. When you accosted me earlier, basically said you were open to play, and then told me supper was ready like we were discussing the goddamn weather. You're a tease. I gave you a taste of your own medicine. It's not nice to be left hanging and waiting, is it, Cat?"

Cat squared her shoulders, refusing to relent to his accusation. She didn't want to give him even the slightest inclination he was having the best kind of effect on her insides, never mind the desire already beginning to pool down between her legs. It was hard, though. He smelled fresh, with just a hint of the body wash he used lingering around the edges of his scent. His short hair was still damp, but he wore a pair of cotton sleep pants that hung low on his hips.

Nothing else.

Definitely not something underneath those pants, given Cat could feel his erection digging into her thigh.

"Seriously, Cat, what is this?" Dante asked again, waving his tie.

"I told you, your-"

"I'm aware it's mine. I bought it. But this wasn't where it usually is when I went looking for it so I could have it set out for tomorrow. It was in a drawer with twenty other ties, rolled up and placed just so. Kind of like that crazy nonsense you do with all the shit in the linen closet. You were going through my drawers, weren't you?"

Oh. Well ...

Cat wouldn't meet his stare. "Your dressers are a goddamn shame, Dante. There's no organization, and little else left to be desired. You just throw everything in there and off you go, picking through the mess when you want something to wear."

"I like it that way. I know where everything is. Pants in one drawer, shirts in another."

"It's a mess," Cat repeated.

"Listen, just because you're fucking anal about everything-"

"I am not!"

"-doesn't mean the rest of us care if our underwear drawer is arranged by color and style," Dante finished sharply.

Cat pouted. "But it was a mess."

"Oh my God, dolcezza," he groaned. "You don't get it."

"The only thing remotely bearable in your room is the fact you hang a lot of things in your closet-though it could use some arranging, too-and the fact you make your bed every morning. Beyond that, you're a lost cause. I was only helping."

"It's not your room to worry about, it's mine," he muttered, but she could see the humor hidden in his gaze.

Cat smacked his bare chest with her palm lightly. The droplets of water left over on her fingers splattered up his neck and jaw. "Say thank you and leave it alone."

"Do I have to explain to you again that it's not your room to go through?"

"Bello-"

Dante shut Cat up when his mouth crashed down on hers. Hot, sinful, and promising. That's what his kiss felt like. His tongue struck against the seam of her lips, silently demanding she open her mouth to his want. Cat did, relishing in the exploration of his tongue dancing with hers as he tugged her hair out from the messy ponytail she wore it up in.

Subconsciously, Cat spread her legs wider as his body pressed tightly to hers and his hands fisted into the sides of her dress. The skirt bunched around her hips, exposing the simple black cotton thong she had on underneath to his groin. Dante pulled her to the very edge of the counter, the hard ridge of his cock seated perfectly at the slit of her sex. Grinding her hips into his erection gave the ache in her clit the smallest amount of relief.

"Don't stop, right?" Dante growled against her mouth.

"Don't ever stop," Cat replied, already breathless and feeling spun out from lust.

"This is going to change things."

She heard his warning, but she didn't really care.

"Not a lot," Cat said before she bit down on his bottom lip, meeting his gaze. "We just won't have to pretend like we don't want to fuck each other."

Dante laughed darkly, the sound vibrating his chest against her already pebbling nipples. "I guess not."

"Kiss me again," Cat ordered, wanting more of his mouth on her body.

"Where, bella?"

A lump lodged in her throat as she remembered the first time he'd fucked her with his mouth. It had literally blinded her with the intensity, something she hadn't experienced before. Cat wasn't sure she could handle that tonight. What she really wanted was for him to just fuck her-give her what she had been denying for far too long because of her own damn stubbornness.

"Kiss me and fuck me. No tricks tonight."

Dante's smirk grew into a sly grin. "Beg me, kitten."

"But-"